Mr Cole said eight Longburn staff had been offered employment at Goodman Fielder's other Manawatu sites, including the Ernest Adams bakery in Palmerston North, but the other 22 had been made redundant.

Late last year Goodman Fielder's chief executive Chris Delaney said the company would downsize from 53 to 35 factories through closures and divestments.

The factories to close were the "least efficient". No other closures were planned at the moment.

"Part of our strategy is to make Goodman Fielder a more focused business, and that results in fewer factories as part of that strategic plan," he said.

"Some are through closures - and Longburn is an example of that - but other examples are a divestment of our business, so factories are going to new owners."

The sale of New Zealand Champion Milling to Japan's Nisshin Flour Milling in December was an example of that, he said.

Palmerston North mayor Jono Naylor said it was "obviously really sad news".

"My thoughts particularly go to the people who now find themselves without a job."

Losing another manufacturing business was hard to take, with multiple others closing over the past few years, but he said it was not a problem unique to Palmerston North.

"There's a risk we face in fluid times, when companies are consolidating and redeploying pieces of operations to different places."

Mr Naylor said he was working with organisations like Vision Manawatu to attract more employers to the city.